Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.
Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.
Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.
John O Donohue, A Blessing for One who is Exhausted
The Chinese character for “mindfulness” is nian. It is a combination of two separate characters, each with its own meaning.
The top part of the character means “now” and the bottom part of the character means “heart” or “mind”.
Literally, the combined character means the act of experiencing the present moment with your heart. So mindfulness is the moment-to-moment awareness of what is occurring in and around us. By being present and mindful of the present moment, we can accept what is at that moment as it is, allowing change to happen naturally, without struggle, without the usual resistance and judgment that cause us to suffer more.
Thich Nhat Hahn and Dr Lilian Cheung, Savor
The Buddhists define spirituality as shamatha, or “tranquil abiding.” We are drawn to a spiritual path out of a desire for tranquil abiding. Just saying the words feels wonderful, like an antidote to the fear, unhappiness, and anxiety with which we often approach life. Fear of what? Fear of our basic human condition. If we stop long enough to take a quiet look at our situation, we’ll hear the tick-tick-ticking of time’s impersonal progress. For each of us, time’s march breeds a different fear: for some it is the terror of death; for others it is the worry of a life unlived; for some it signifies the loss of what we hold dear and familiar. These are not thoughts with which we usually enjoy lingering. Spirituality invites us to linger. It gives us a way of standing naked in the truth of the human condition; meeting it head-on with curiosity and openness. This is serious work, but the mysterious outcome of the work is a lightness of heart — what we call happiness.
Elizabeth Lesser, The Seekers Guide: Making your life a Spiritual Adventure
photo of Glendalough in autumn by J.-H. Janßen
If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall still be dimly aware of the present when the good things that I have been expecting come to pass. For I shall have formed a habit of looking behind and ahead, making it difficult for me to attend to the here and now. If, then, my awareness of the past and future makes me less aware of the present, I must begin to wonder whether I am actually living in the real world.
Alan Watts
photo Shenandoah national park
Our tendency to compare nearly always robs us of joy
and stops us living fully the life that we actually have.
What you do not have you find everywhere
W.S. Merwin, American Poet, born 1927, Provision
photo evelyn simak
Gorgeous amazing things come into our lives when we are paying attention:
Mangoes, Grandchildren, Bach, ponds…
This happens more often when we have as little expectation as possible.
If you say, “Well, that’s pretty much what I thought I’d see,” you are in trouble. At that point you have to ask yourself why you are even here.
[…] Astonishing material and revelation appear in our lives all the time. Let it be. Unto us, so much is given. We just have to be open for business.
Anne Lamott, Help Thanks Wow: Three Essential Prayers
photo: laitche
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